Everything About Something

Looking at yesterday's post, something struck me. I mentioned that I took the step of reading the text of the proposed ballot measures on the election that I was uncertain about. One might well ask, shouldn't we read every word of the new law that we are being asked to vote for? It's kind of like a contract. But that would be unreasonable others might say. There isn't enough time in the day to go through all that. So how do we make our decisions?

My own process isn't very complicated. I look at what's being proposed, and first ask myself whether it's something I'd like to see happen. "Vote for Measure A - Apple pie for everyone." So I'll ask myself, "Is voting for apple pie for everyone a good thing." Well, of course it is. And if I stopped there, I might just vote for the measure. But silly, over analytical person that I am, I take another step. I ask myself, "Will this measure actually accomplish apple pie for everyone?" Sometimes I can see that despite the promises of those who proposed the measure, it just has no chance of actually delivering, or delivers in an unreasonable way (one apple pie for everyone at the price of two.) (Hmmm, delivering apple pie - next million dollar idea? But I digress.)

If I'm not sure, I like to take a look at the arguments against, for, and rebutting each other about the measure. I like to look at the arguments against and the rebuttal first, because I have a natural bias against new laws to begin with. And then, If I'm still not sure about whether it's a good thing, and can do what it promises, I'll read the text itself.

Now that's all a long winded way of demonstrating that I try to make decisions about important things with the least information necessary to do the job. But how do I know that I have enough information? I suspect for many of us, we have an intuitive sense that we've reach a sort of logical critical mass and the bell goes off to say the decision's done. And I suspect that we are all often wrong.

So strolling into the office this morning, I wondered, if I really did have complete and perfect information about something (as though that were possible) would I make better decisions? Of course not, because in the process of gathering all the complete, perfect information, the decision is generally not relevant anymore (Oh, I'm sorry! The judges say we're out of time!) Assuming that the "correct" decision was to do something other than wait, I would have just blown it.

As a complete side note, would it even be possible to try to know everything about something? Try to think of the simplest item you can; a paperclip, a shoelace, a thumb tack, a button. What is everything that can be known about it? Who made it? What is it made of? Where did those things come from? How was it made? Who sold it to whom before it got to me? What were the financial terms? Was the process of it becoming what it is one that benefited the people involved with it? Were any animals, plants or people harmed in the making of my paperclip? Good lord! There's a lot I don't know!

What's the utility in all this meandering thought. Perhaps a little comfort in the notion that we all try do our best with the information we have, and we might be just a little more humble if we knew a little more.

Have a great day!